BATON ROUGE -
After three roller-coaster and sometimes tumultuous seasons in an LSU uniform, Russell Shepard is arguably as hardened by his experience as any current player
on the No. 2-ranked Tigers.

Associated PressLSU receiver Russell Shepard came up with three catches for a career-high 68 yards and ran three times for 24 yards in the 63-14 rout of Idaho last week.

So
a few hiccups early in his senior season weren't bound to pester him much.

Instead,
a glaring drop in the end zone and another missed chance for a touchdown on a
teammate's penalty served a different purpose.

Shepard
was hardly even a minor factor in LSU's first two games this season with two
touches for 11 yards. He had as many dropped passes - including the one in the
end zone - than impactful plays.

Unfazed,
the senior from Houston who has spent time in the doghouse, on the suspension
list and on the I'm-ready-to-leave list, shrugged off his slow start.

Last
week against Idaho, Shepard snared three passes for a career-high 68 yards and
ran three times for 24 yards in a 63-14 triumph. His 92 total yards were almot
20 percent of the Tigers' total (472 yards).

"I
don't care how good a player you are or how much success or failure you've had,
having a big game helps your confidence," Shepard said.

That
confidence is something Shepard was flush with when he arrived as a freshman,
but he'll be quick to admit it has wavered and flickered through the last three
seasons.

He
got to LSU as a high-profile, five-star recruit, made a mid-season transition from
quarterback to receiver in 2009, wound up as one of the go-to backs in the
running game by the end of that season and came back with a ton of high
expectations in tow in 2010.

By
the time that 2010 campaign arrived, Shepard had a more specific role as a
dual-threat receiver/runner capable of capturing lighting in a bottle any time
he got the ball.

But
the lightning fizzled after a promising start when defenses figured him out and
Shepard struggled to completely grasp the offense.

The
net result was dwindling confidence throughout his sophomore season, although
Shepard caught 33 passes and ran the ball 32 times.

Shepard
said drops like the one he had against Washington on a tailor-made touchdown
throw from Zach Mettenberger would have crushed his spirit and caused a
lingering hangover two years ago.

"I had to learn to get over it," Shepard said. "The thing about our offense is you
never know how many opportunities you're going to get and that makes it worse
when you miss a chance.

"I've
learned that I need to get into a rhythm, and when I drop one, I've got to
get up and be ready for the next one that comes my way."

There
were plenty of next chances last week, and it didn't hurt the Tigers, either,
that Shepard brought a few different wrinkles on a night when several other
playmakers were out of action or wound up that way.

Shepard
started in place of James Wright, who was nursing a sore shoulder. In the
backfield, Spencer Ware was on the shelf with a variety of nagging injuries and
starting tailback Alfred Blue limped off with a knee injury.

So
besides operating as a receiver and running his normal routes, Shepard spent
part of his night lined up in the backfield and took three handoffs.

"It
helps me to get a few more touches," said Shepard, who said he liked
sticking his nose in the middle of the pile a few times for a change. "It helps
me add a different dimension to the offense.

"The
coaches are trying to find ways to get me more involved, and I think I can help the
offense in a lot of ways."

The
numbers certainly bear that out.

With
the biggest game of his season and one of the more productive outings of his
up-and-down career, Shepard is closing in on 1,200 total yards for his career
(552 receiving, 596 rushing).

Though
still plenty fast, Shepard isn't the same kind of home-run threat as a receiver
as Odell Beckham Jr. and Jarvis Landry, nor is he going to grind out yards on
the ground like Kenny Hilliard, Blue or Ware.

APRussell Shepard: Poised to emerge as a threat again?

Shepard
is the lone LSU receiver to get the ball as a runner this season, though, and
that's a skill that could - and perhaps will - get him more touches.

"My
role since I've been here is to be a playmaker," Shepard said. "I'm not going
to go out there and play 60 snaps, so when they ask me to make a play, whether
it's catching the ball or running it, I have to be ready to do that.

"Me
being out there and being able to do things from different spots on the field takes
some pressure off the running backs and Zach. It adds some trickery to the
game. When you can add some speed and misdirection to the offense, it takes
pressure off the guys at key positions."

Shepard
making plays also helps with the confidence and trust the LSU offensive coaches
develop in him, which has been an uphill struggle at times.

There
have been plenty of highlights: A 69-yard touchdown run against Auburn when he
was a freshman, a 50-yard pass in the 2010 season opener and a 30-yard scamper
the next week to pop open a game against Vanderbilt.

Last
season, Shepard missed the first four games due to an NCAA suspension and
struggled to work his way back into the receiving rotation with Beckham
established as the No. 2 man behind Rueben Randle. But Shepard did manage to
notch a career-high four touchdowns despite only 21 touches.

The
6-foot-1, 185-pound Shepard barely sniffed the field in the BCS Championship
Game and days later declared he was leaving for the NFL Draft. He backed off
that decision quickly after a sit-down, heart-to-heart meeting with Coach Les Miles.

During
the offseason, Miles made a point of mentioning Shepard as a potential breakout
player this fall and he repeated a similar sermon Monday night when he praised
Shepard's practice habits so far this fall.

Younger
teammates who have taken over Shepard's former spot in the spotlight are taking
notice.

"He's
been catching the ball really well in practice and has been a great leader,"
Landry said. "The biggest thing for him is to be consistent, because he can
help the offense in so many ways."

There
remains one way that Shepard has yet to make a contribution, and it's a
lingering fascination for LSU fans like Big Foot is to people everywhere else.

A
former all-state dual-threat quarterback at Cypress Ridge in Houston, Shepard
passed for 1,843 yards and 20 touchdowns as a senior.